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Will employers require a COVID-19 vaccination?

Health experts believe a vaccine is the best tool to stop COVID-19 and return things to normal.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Could a COVID-19 vaccine be mandatory for employees or schools?

With a vaccine potentially ready in the coming months, it's a discussion companies are starting to have. It's possible employers could require workers to get vaccinated in order to come to work.

"The vaccine is what we're looking at as the main tool to be able to control COVID, COVID-19," Toledo-Lucas County Health department commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said.

Zgodzinski said a vaccine for workers would prevent businesses from having to shut down due to infections.

"If there's 100 individuals that we need to be vaccinated but only two of those get vaccinated out of 100, that's not going to get us to the point where we can get back to normal," he said.

Businesses are within their rights to require vaccinations. ProMedica, one of the largest employers in the area, is waiting to see if it needs to require such a policy.

"One of the first questions that we're going to need to have answered is what is its efficacy?" ProMedica Dr. Brian Kaminski said. "What is its safety and what is its durability? So how long is it going to last."

Kaminski said each business will have to decide what's best for its employees. There would be exceptions likely for medical, religious and other reasons. But a vaccination requirement is not anything new.

"We do have a requirement for our employees to get vaccinated against influenza and that's in line with our mission," Kaminski said. "So we want our employees to be safe. We want the people who they work with and the patients and the people they treat to be safe."

Zgodzinksi said as a parent, he believes the vaccine is the best thing you can do for yourself and your community.

"As soon as a vaccine comes out, I will be getting myself and my family vaccinated," he said, "because again I believe it's the best way to protect my family but two best way to start protecting the community."

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